Artist	Song
Bing Crosby	Out of Nowhere (1931 Single Version)
from Bing - His Legendary Years 1931-1957 (1993)
Tommy Dorsey and His Orchestra	I'm Gettin' Sentimental Over You
from Tommy Dorsey: Greatest Hits (1990)
Billie Holiday	Some Other Spring
from Lady Day - The Best of Billie Holiday (2001)
Louis Armstrong	I Can't Give You Anything But Love
from The Essential Louis Armstrong (1979)
Duke Ellington & His Famous Orchestra	Concerto for Cootie (Do Nothin' 'Til You Hear from Me)
from Battle of the Bands: Duke Ellington vs. Count Basie (1998)
Billy Eckstine	Prisoner of Love
from The Very Best of Billy Eckstine (Nostalgic Memories Volume 5) (2009)
Rudy Vallée	As Time Goes By
from Very Best Of (2009)
Mabel Mercer	Just One of Those Things
from The Art of Mabel Mercer (2009)
Harry James	Ciribiribin
from Ultimate Jazz Collections, Vol. 17 (2009)
Glenn Miller	Wishing Will Make It So (Remastered)
from The Fabulous Glenn Miller and His Orchestra (1999)
Jascha Heifetz	An Eisamer Quelle, Op.9 No.2
from The Ledgendary Jascha Heifetz (1999)
Enrico Caruso	I Pagliacci: 'Recitar!...Vesti-La Giubba'
from The Legendary Enrico Caruso (1999)
Keith Clark & Slovak Radio Symphony Orchestra	Symphony No. 2 in C Minor, Op. 25, II. Allegro giocoso
from Glière: Symphony No. 2 & The Zaporozhy Cossacks (1995)
Mildred Bailey & Red Norvo & His Orchestra	Says My Heart
from Top Hits of the 1930s (2008)
Bob Chester Orchestra	Blue Skies
from Radio & Recording Rarities, Volume 7 (2006)

Comment:

Considering how Frank was in so many ways [i]unlike[/i] everybody who preceded him, you might think he just sprang out of Hoboken into full-fledged superstardom without any idols of his own. And you would be wrong. Bing Crosby was not only Sinatra's first big hero; like Sinatra, he also completely reinvented the art of singing. On "Out of Nowhere (1931 Single Version)," you can hear Bing leading pop out of the [i]voh-dee-oh-doh[/i] crooner era into a more modern, natural style. Trombone-playing Tommy Dorsey tastefully slides around the beat in the big-band ballad "I'm Gettin' Sentimental Over You (1991 Remastered)," schooling Frank on his phrasing in the process. And Billie Holiday showed the young Sinatra how to [i]inhabit[/i] a song, rather than just sing it, as you can hear in the bluesy yearning of "Some Other Spring." From Louis Armstrong to Enrico Caruso, we've got the essential artists and crucial tracks that inspired the Chairman of the Board when he was still a VP.

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